60ft Under, Underwater News Daily

Hector’s dolphins caught and killed by fisherman’s nets May 1, 2006

Over the summer (In Australia, winter here), 19 Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) were reported killed, and 11 were due to fisherman. Hector's dolphins are a very rare and endangered species only found off the coast of New Zealand, and is the smallest dolphin known to man. The number of dolphins were killed in commercial nets and trawl nets. This is a terrible thing to happen. If the rules were more strict, and the fines larger, the commercial fishermen would be more careful about what they caught. Suppose one or two of the dolphins were pregnant females? That could be a devastating blow to an endangered species.